Baking in a different kind of oven

Sooooooo, because this (extremely long) story really won't make sense unless I come out and say it: I'm pregnant! We're expecting a little bundle of joy (and yes, baby, you better be joyful after the nausea you've caused) - and our due date is August 3.

On Nov. 29, I took two of these:

and got positive test results (I've always been quite the excellent test taker, if I do say so myself.) I took the first test at 5:30 a.m. and wasn't able to properly tell Tim until 11:30 p.m. Needless to say, I was bursting at the seams :) The next day, we told our parents and siblings, and then I told some of my closest friends over the next few days.

But do you people know how hard it is to keep a secret like this?! Especially when you're exhausted, have no appetite, feel ill and look like death?

I've blogged about my craft group several times. They're some of my closest friends in Florida, and it killed me to not tell them the *big news* at the craft fair we participated in the week after I found out we were expecting. Luckily, my friends ignored the symptoms I thought were insanely obvious and just thought I was worn out from work.

I wanted to wait until after our first appointment to tell them - I wanted medical confirmation that we were pregnant and things were going well, even though it was still early on. And I wanted to tell them in a creative way. We had a cookie party/exchange scheduled for the weekend after the craft fair, so after all looked good at our first appointment, I decided to launch Operation: Try To Bake Even Though You're Nauseous. This particular operation called for the most simple cookie recipe I could think of, as I didn't have the stomach or time (because of all that SLEEP I need nowadays!) to make anything complex.

(Note: Major apologies for not posting more these last two months. As you might imagine, it's rather difficult to bake or even want to bake when it feels like the World of Food has launched a war against you, and your body is on food's side. I've had no energy, no appetite and quite a few aversions these past few months, so I apologize for slacking on the baking.)


I went with the recipe for Cakies, and I had some white cake mix in the house. I had purchased some pink and blue chocolate candies for this operation, and I mixed them equally in to the batter. Then I baked them, put them in a covered pan and headed off to the cookie party.


When I arrived, I told the girls my cookies had a message. They looked at them. One friend, Lisa, looked at me, wide-eyed, and asked, "Really?!" I said yes. The others continued to peer at the cookies. One asked if they were fortune cookies. Lisa demanded that everyone figure it out fast before she blurted it out. Finally, another woman said, "Well, they're pink and blue."

Then the light bulb went on at the same time for about eight women standing in a cozy kitchen :)

Amid hugs and congratulations, I explained to them that we were still early on in the pregnancy, and that I'd wanted to tell them the week before but wasn't ready. The last few months have brought the crafting group several babies, so we're looking forward to spending time with the next generation of crafty little people :)

And next month should bring the news of whether baby is a boy or girl. And of course, I plan on using baked goods to announce that. I am currently fascinated by the concept of gender cakes. Although I don't think I'll go to this extreme, the basic premise of a gender cake is that you have your ultrasound, have your doctor write the gender down and put it in a sealed envelope, and you deliver the envelope to your local bakery. They bake either a blue cake or girl cake and decorate the exterior normally, with no hint of the gender. Then the parents, who often organize a party and have guests choose "Team Boy" or "Team Girl," cut the cake and reveal a blue or pink inside.

I think I might just have the doctor tell us (because I am impatient to begin with!) and then bake a cake for our friends and/or coworkers. Not quite sure how it will shake out, but you can be sure that a photo of the cake slice will be on the blog for all of you to see :) A fellow blogger is having a similar virtual Gender Party this morning, so I'll be sure to take notes.

P.S. It might seem like I've put a lot of thought in to all of this, but remember - the news you just found out is news I have known for 2+ months! I've had TONS of time to think :)